collateral
/kəˈlætəɹəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.66 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
adj
Being aside from the main subject, target, or goal.
adj
Of an indirect ancestral relationship, as opposed to lineal descendency.
adj
Relating to a collateral in the sense of an obligation or security.
Example Sentences
- "Her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) are torn and Vonn has a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau, the upper end of the tibia or shin bone."
- "Yet the attempt may give / Collateral interest to this homely tale."
- "collateral damage"
- "Although not a direct cause, the border skirmish was certainly a collateral incitement for the war."
- "That he [Atterbury] was altogether in the wrong on the main question, and on all the collateral questions springing out of it, […] is true."
- "a collateral descendant"
Etymology
Recorded since c.1378, from Old French, from Medieval Latin collaterālis, from Latin col- (“together with”) (a form of con-) + the stem of latus (“side”). By surface analysis, col- + lateral.
Origin
- Source language: Old French